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KØBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET DET JURIDISKE FAKULTET KØBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET DET JURIDISKE FAKULTET

BIM International (BIM Int.)

IT technology is increasingly applied to the design, planning, carrying out and operati-

on of built facilities. The opportunities for innovation and development of the relevant

technologies are far from fully exploited at the current stage.

From an early stage, the Danish Government and central market actors in the con-

struction industry has aimed to promote and enhance the use of digital technology in

Denmark. As a consequence, the Danish construction sector may today be considered to

operate at a relatively high stage of digitalization. The revision in 2018 of the existing

Danish standard form contracts (the AB-system) led to an inclusion of general provisi-

ons on the parties’ digital obligations. However, these provisions only mark a point of

departure for the regulation of digital rights and obligations. Further, the development and

use of BIM is not (solely) a national matter.

The technical resources, which constitute the basis for concrete BIM-models used, are

invented and developed in international business environments. Further, modern con-

struction projects are increasingly internationalized, due to e.g. an enhanced relative

mobility of construction components, a general opening of markets and globalization of

construction businesses.

However, considerable challenges still stand in the way for a full utilization of the po-

tential of digitalization in the construction industry. Among these, a clarification of the

legal impact of the use of BIM and collaborative models for design development and

project performance seem to be of highly importance. An increased digitalization can also

be expected to entail considerable structural changes in the market and for in- stance to

widen the gap between leading market players and SMBs, which again might affect

contractual practices and contract law. These possible legal challenges for the

The project will be carried

out from 2019-2021.

It will lead to the publication

of at least four articles in

leading legal journals and

further publications in

trade journals.

Knowledge gained will be

brought about at a number

of legal scientific workshops

and industry conferences.

For more on the project,

please see:

https://jura.ku.dk/

virksomhedsansvar/english/

digitalconstructionlaw/

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exploitation of digital resources in the construction industry can only be addressed in a

qualified way by adapting an international perspective, representing the cross boarder

nature of today’s digital business models and by analyzing the problems in an interna-

tional regulative and contractual context.

The research project BIM Int. is funded by the Danish Transport-, Construction- and

Housing Authority, the Confederation of Danish Industry and a group of highly specia-

lized legal advisors and construction market actors and has a total budget of DKK 1.6

mio. It is a part of a research project on Digitalization of Construction law led by Pro-

fessor Ole Hansen at the Center for Enterprise Liability (CEVIA) at the Faculty of Law,

University of Copenhagen. BIM Int. consists of a four pillars:

1 BIM in offshore construction settings

The use of BIM have on the outset been more widely accep-

ted and successfully used in the offshore industry, especially

within the oil- and gas industry. This industry is now - in cer-

tain areas - moving closer to a “industry 4.0” level of integrati-

on of physical structures and digital information. This sub-pro-

ject will explore the main reasons for the success of BIM in

offshore construction and analyze main legal challenges that

has to be solved in order for this success to be realized. The

project is headed by partner, attorney Klint Klingberg-Jensen

from Poul Schmith and an international partner.

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2 BIM and FIDIC

Transnational contracts within the construction industry are

often based on FIDIC’s standard agreements. These agree-

ments do not specifically address the use of BIM, though FIDIC

does provide some advisory notes as to projects ap- plying

BIM. It is acknowledged that BIM by positive means is

changing many aspects of the industry but also emphasized

that practical and legal challenges/risks are associated with the

use of BIM. While waiting for further guidance, this pro- ject will

examine the applicability of BIM in a FIDIC context. The project

will be carried out by attorney-at-law, partner, MBA, Niklas

Korsgaard Christensen, Plesner Law Firm and an international

partner.

3 BIM in major infrastructure contracts

Presumably, major infrastructure construction projects to a

large extent involve the use of Building Information Model- ling.

These elements of major investment, complexity and

established contractual networks, may shape the foundation for

more collaborative models for contracting and the shared use

of BIM at a high level. The aim of project is to identify when and

under what circumstances collaborative elements

are adopted in major infra structure contracts. Further, the

aim is to clarify the role of BIM as a tool for collaboration,

especially to what extend and how a BIM strategy may vary

dependent on the use of collaborative elements in the con-

struction contracts. The project is lead by Bjarne Bæk, Senior

Legal Counsel, Copenhagen Airports A/S.

4 BIM and SMBs

Small and medium sized businesses represent a large share of

the economy in the construction sector as well as within the EU

market in general. However, the ongoing digitaliza- tion of the

construction industry may expose SMBs to sub- stantial

commercial and legal risks, because of the expan-

ding gap between main contractors as leading market actors

and low-tech sub-contractors and suppliers. The subproject

investigates into EU contract laws ability to establish an ap-

propriate support for SMBs in highly competitive digitalized

market settings.